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Jill Hutchison

Layla and the Bots: Happy Paws

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Cover image of "Layla & the Bots: Happy Paws"Layla & the Bots: Happy Paws by Vicky Fang
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Kids

Layla and her robots are rock stars and inventors! They’re super excited to perform at Happy Days Amusement Park… until they hear that the park is closing down. The whole town has gone dog-crazy, and everyone is spending their time at the dog park. To save Happy Days, Layla and her bots will have to use all their design and engineering skills to create something totally new- “Happy Paws!” the amusement park for dogs. This easy chapter book is a 2021 Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award honor book for Beginning Fiction.

Find it (and other Layla and the Bots books) in the catalog!

Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business

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Cover image of "Mindy Kim & the Yummy Seaweed Business"Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business by Lyla Lee, Illustrated by Dung Ho
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Mindy is NOT excited to be the new kid at school. She and her Appa (Dad) have moved from California, where there were plenty of other Korean-American kids at her multicultural school, to a small town in Florida where she’s the only Asian student. Mindy doesn’t know anyone, and the other kids think her yummy Korean food is weird- at first. But then someone wants to try her spicy seaweed snacks, and suddenly everyone wants to trade snacks! Mindy and her new friend Sally get the great idea to sell the yummy seaweed snacks… but a jealous classmate tries to spoil everything. Soon Mindy’s fighting with her only friend, in trouble with the teacher, and afraid to tell Appa what’s going on. How can Mindy set things right? Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business is the 2021 Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award winner for Transitional Fiction.

Find it (and other Mindy Kim books) in the catalog!

Being Frog

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Book Cover of "Being Frog" by April Pulley SayreBeing Frog by April Pulley Sayre
Publication/Release Date:
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Frogs are fascinating, and Being Frog by April Pulley Sayre is a beautiful look at these amphibians for young naturalists. Stunning photos and simple rhyming text show a tiny frog egg growing into a tadpole, then a tiny froglet able to leave the water. Readers then follow one day in the life of a green frog in a North American woodland pond: we see the frog swimming, climbing, hunting, missing its prey, and trying again. The author Sayre uses simple language to show that frogs are living creatures with their own needs, habitats, and behaviors- not playthings, but wild animals. An author’s note gives more information about how she observed and photographed the frogs over many months to create this lovely book, which is perfect for the youngest nature-lovers.

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Anya and the Dragon

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Cover of the book "Anya and the Dragon"Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Publication Date: September, 2019

Format: Book

Who it’s for: Kids

Set in a fantasy world based on 10th-century Russia, this is the story of Anya, the only Jewish girl in a small village. Things are already hard for her family- other villagers discriminate against them for their faith, and her father was drafted into the Tsar’s army. Now the family is about to be evicted from their home if they can’t pay the tax, and they don’t have the money. But the Tsar is offering a reward for anyone who can find a dangerous river dragon that’s said to live nearby, and Anya is determined to do whatever it takes to get the prize and save her family. She teams up with a boy named Ivan (who has seven older brothers also named Ivan), and they set out to hunt for the monster. There are others on the same quest, including a cold-hearted Viking named Sigurd who wants to kill the dragon before it can be captured. Anya and Ivan discover that the lands around their village are full of hidden magical creatures, and that nothing is what it seems- not even the dragon. They’ll have to make choices about right and wrong, duty and loyalty, and fight to save what they hold dear.

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Around the Table that Grandad Built

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Around the Table that Grandad Built by Melanie Heuiser Hill, illustrated by Jaime Kim
Publication/Release Date: 2019
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Around the Table that Grandad Built is a lovely celebration of family, tradition, memory, and gratitude. In cumulative text along the lines of “The House that Jack Built,” a joyful multicultural family prepares to share a special meal. They begin by moving “the table that grandad” built in to the center of the room, then gather “the sunflowers picked by my cousins” and “the napkins sewn by mom.” Each item used to set the table is special and treasured. Then comes the food- produce from the family’s garden and favorite recipes made with love. When all is ready, the extended family gathers to hold hands and give thanks around the table that Grandad built. This picture book is perfect for Thanksgiving, or any special family celebration!
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Attack of the Furball: A Christina Starspeeder Story

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Attack of the Furball: A Christina Starspeeder Story by Jarrett Krosoczka
Release date: September 3, 2019
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Kids

Young padawan Christina Starspeeder is having a tough year at the Jedi Academy! She left her younger brother at the lower Jedi Academy back on Coruscant to come to the advanced school on Jedha, where everything is harder. Her classes are harder, the droids are sarcastic, and her mentor, Jedi Master Skia Ro, is demanding. The only good thing is Christina’s secret new pet, an adorably fluffy baby nexu she sneaked back from a field trip to planet Cholganna. But cute little Fluffernut is starting to grow… and grow… and GROW! Christina didn’t know that nexu grow to be 14 feet long, or that they will chew up almost anything! To make matters worse, a mysterious bounty hunter is trying to steal Fluffernut. Can Christina protect her pet, outwit the bounty hunter, and make things right before she’s kicked out of Jedi Academy for good?
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Find all the Jedi Academy books in the catalog!